A conservative friend of mine who shall remain nameless (Scott) Was telling me why he disapproved of social welfare programs "that they didn't work, that there are more poor than ever." Well setting aside for a moment that the population has doubled since WWII, I asked if the war on poverty should end because it isn't working, why does he still support the war on drugs, which is a much bigger failure, and hasn't helped anyone. We've spent billions, imprisoned millions and anyone can still get any drug they want, practically any time they want. There are more drug dealers and drug users than ever before. He replied That "It would be much worse if we did nothing." So why doesn't that apply to helping the poor? Wouldn't poverty be much worse if we did nothing there as well? I for one don't believe that the drug problem would be worse if we did nothing. I believe that the people who want to use drugs already do so, and those who don't, aren't going to start simply because it was now legal to do so. So what is the difference? I know conservative love rules and the assigning responsibility and blame. Could it be just about law enforcement? Maybe we should outlaw being poor? At least it would clear up the homeless problem putting them all in prison.
Another aspect of this phenomenon is the war on healthcare costs. This same friend was complaining that under the affordable care act, healthcare cost would go up due to the fact that more people would have access to medical treatment. Which led me to ask; "As a Christian, shouldn't you be happy more people will be getting healthcare? Aren't you suppose to love thy neighbor, more than thy checkbook?" ( chirp...chirp...chirp..) Why is it just Godless liberals fighting for universal medical coverage and an end to poverty? It certainly seems like conservatives are religious about the issues until it affects their bank accounts, then they forget that Jesus said to help the poor, heal the sick, and feed the hungry.
No where was this more obvious than on facebook. During the last election Republicans posted time and again about what would happen to THEIR money, THEIR taxes if God forbid Obama won re-election. My liberal friends and I were dismayed by this difference, as our concerns were about what would happen to the old, the sick, the poor if Romney were to win and gut social programs as promised? It seems to me that many conservative Christians have adopted a new Holy Trinity; consisting of unregulated Capitalism, blind Patriotism, and Jesus. In that order.
No comments:
Post a Comment